That 10,000 steps a day is healthy is something you may have heard often. It’s not surprising then that many people set a goal of 10,000 steps per day. However, new research from England shows that an additional 5,000 steps per day is more effective in protecting your heart.
Research on how many steps per day
It was also in England, albeit 70 years earlier, that the link between physical activity and the chance of heart problems [1] was first shown. In a famous study, it was found that conductors on London buses had heart problems less frequently than the drivers.
The conductors continuously walked through the aisle, while the driver sat still.
However, those conductors did not walk with a pedometer. Although the link between physical activity and a lower risk of cardiovascular disease has since been repeatedly demonstrated, that well-known figure of 10,000 steps per day has not been confirmed in research as the best target number for this.
How many steps per day is optimal?
Researchers from the University of Warwick therefore wanted more insight into the exact amount of physical activity required to reduce the chance of cardiovascular diseases and other diseases caused by obesity [2]. They published the results this month in The International Journal of Obesity.
Since those conductors have now been replaced by machines, this time the researchers turned to a postal company. This allowed them to compare the postmen, who walk all day, with the administrative staff who do sedentary work.
In total, 111 employees participated, most of them aged between 40 and 60 years without existing heart problems. They measured waist circumference, BMI, blood sugar, and cholesterol. All factors that, if elevated, increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
Then, they had all employees wear a fitness tracker, both at work and at home. Afterwards, they assessed the activity, including the number of hours walked or sat daily. The number of steps per day was also recorded. The differences were, not surprisingly, large. Office workers sometimes sat for up to 15 hours a day, while the postmen hardly sat at all during work, thus spending much less time sitting.
Sitting increases the risk of cardiovascular diseases by 20%
This resulted in significant differences in the risk of cardiovascular diseases. The sedentary employees had a larger waist circumference, higher BMI, and worse blood sugar and cholesterol. For every hour that the employees spent sitting per day, the chance of cardiovascular diseases increased by 20%.
Conversely, all time spent standing or walking reduced the chance of cardiovascular diseases.
The greatest benefit was achieved by those who were most active. The postmen who walked more than 3 hours a day and thus took at least 15,000 steps per day (about 11 kilometers), generally had a normal BMI, normal waist circumference, and normal blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Unlike their sedentary colleagues, this showed no increased risk of cardiovascular diseases.
“Get up, stand up”
“Yes, I could do that too,” you might say.
Handy if you have a walking job. Office workers will have to sacrifice personal time to walk 3 hours daily. Simply making more time to move is often easier said than done.
In this research, however, standing was also measured as having a positive influence. In a recent article, I wrote about another study that shows you burn 30% more calories by working standing up instead of sitting.
So tomorrow, you might want to tell your boss that you’ve found a good way to reduce sick leave. Desks at which you can stand to work. It would be absolutely fantastic to work not on, but with a treadmill.
3 tips to take more steps per day
When you have a sedentary job, it’s often difficult to achieve the number of steps per day described above. Many people don’t even reach 5,000 steps per day, let alone 10,000. Below are 3 tips to increase your daily step count.
Walk during your work and lunch
Try to walk as much as possible for practical matters such as lunch, the toilet, and colleagues. Choose the stairs over the elevator and be aware of the extra steps you take when you do this so you can make it measurable for yourself.
Walk at least once a week
If you can’t increase your daily step count because you simply don’t need to and can’t walk more, try to incorporate a long weekly walk for yourself. You can view this as a workout, and with this workout, you can significantly increase your weekly step count, on average.
It would also make for fun videos.
References
- J.N. Morris, J.A. Heady, P.A.B. Raffle, C.G. Roberts, J.W. Parks, CORONARY HEART-DISEASE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY OF WORK, The Lancet, Volume 262, Issue 6795, 1953, Pages 1053-1057, ISSN 0140-6736, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(53)90665-5.
- Tigbe WW, Granat MH, Sattar N, Lean ME. Time spent in sedentary posture is associated with waist circumference and cardiovascular risk. Int J Obes (Lond). 2017 Mar 7. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2017.30. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 28138134.
